Thanks to The New York Post, we saw this piece in Broadcasting & Cable that suggests producers are thinking of tweaking specific components of American Idol next season. According to B&C, a recent online market research survey asks several key questions, including “Suppose the first few weeks of American Idol started in Hollywood with flashbacks of the auditions; would that increase or decrease your enjoyment of American Idol?” (My answer: Increase! Am I in the minority?)
Among the other questions, which B&C paraphrases, are: Is there too much or too littlebanter between the judges? And is there too much or not enough Ryan? (Considering I fast-forward through any "banter" and any "Ryan," I’m guessing my answer is too much. Though, full disclosure, I also fast-forward through anything that’s not one of the contestants singing on stage.)
So, let’s help Fox out. Answer those questions below. And feel free to mention any other areas you’d like producers to target. It’s a broken record, at this point, to say that the results show needs to be overhauled… but go for it.
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I hate the auditions. I watch Idol to hear good singers. If I want to hear bad singing I can sing to myself. I hate hearing the backstory and then having the person cut in Hollywood. Let us get to know the finalist (I don’t care about the others). Get rid of all the Ford commercials no one enjoys them. Finally Simon is the only judge worth hearing. Turn off Paula and Randy’s mics and let Simon speak.
get rid of Paula
Too much banter and Ryan – who cares? Slezak’s perennial suggestion to randomize the judge’s seating arrangement would be great, too.
Hate the auditions, and I too fast forward through everything but the singing and Simon’s comments.
I think they need to overhaul the voting system – one vote per phone, or at least a limited number – same with texting. I didn’t watch a good portion of last season due to the bad singers that kept getting through. I don’t watch to make fun of bad singers – I want to hear good singers and figure out which contestants CD’s I’d be interested in buying.
In the first season, the level of talent was fairly low, but the fans were engaged because they got to know the contestants. This season has the most talented contestants ever and we know the least about them. I don’t think the producers should be surprised that ratings are falling.
i like the auditions, but do think they go on too long. possibly combining Hollywood week (which feels like the official beginning of the show) with the auditions would help.
also, why do the idols have to sing so many old songs? i love music from all genres and time periods, but the show needs to update THEIR musical references. i am dying for a 90s week or songs from last year theme weeks. and mentorships- timberland or alicia keys or a million other artists who have made songs in the last decade. if these were mixed with older stars, the show would be more relevant. as it is now, it seems to be stuck in a time warp. overhaul theme/mentor weeks….please!!!!!!!!!!!
Sadly, like any show, it has run it’s course. Put it out of it’s misery and quietly retire it. In 10 years we may be itching for new seasons and will welcome it’s antics. I was a big fan but genuinely bored this Season.
PART 1: Seacrest may be vacant yet somehow too sleek, but he’s not the primary reason for the show’s downturn. The show has a been-there-done-that feel. It needs a real injection of “new.”
Let’s start with the judges. There is no constructive criticism from the judges (“you did your thing,” “it was karaoke” and “you look beautiful” offer nothing). Please replace Randy and Paula with judges that offer substance. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Anastacia Brown or Tracy Gershon who used to serve on Nashville Star. They know how to offer criticism.
Look to Canadian Idol (available on You Tube) – the judges rotate the order and come from 4 varied fields. The Randy-Paula-Simon order is tired.
Try putting the judges on the spot more. In “You’re the One that I Want,” the bottom 2 vote getters re-auditioned for the judges and the judges decided who was going home. Or shows like “Make Me a Super Model” where the judges decided who the least deseving were and let the public then vote.
Ditch the auditions! They are long and dragged out and take up too much time. Show maybe a few funny ones, a few great ones and move on to Hollywood and get down to business. Get rid of Randy. He’s too repetitive and annoying. Keep Simon..he makes the show! Keep Paula! She’s good for some laughs. Last but not least, make the viewers votes count! Stop with the pre chosen ones! Like it or not, let America actually pick the winner instead of the AI producers and staff! Put the “real” back into “Reality”
Ditch Randy. Enough of the “Yo, dawg, check it out” and other equally odd things he says, not to mention the hand gestures. I, for one, don’t know what they mean and don’t particularly want to know. Ryan Seacrest is a little boring now that we’re used to his peculiarities. He’s too perky to be a man.
Get rid of Paula. Randy is starting to open up a little about who is doing what wrong, Simon at least says yeah or nay. The show should start with Hollywood week and recap the auditions of only those who got through. New twist – Judges pick which song all contestants sing each week but they all should sing the same song, that way you could really pick out whose who. Let’s hear some 70’s 80’s & 90’s though.
Idol needs to respect it’s viewers and provide certified results that have been audited by an INDEPENDENT auditing firm NOT associated with Idol or any of it’s holding companies. Plus, limiting the number of votes so those that want to have a say can. As it is now, frustration sets in when busy signals are what is heard and people stop trying. In addition, voting for who had the worst night instead of the best would change the entire process.
I would like to see the votes limited to no more than three per phone number. The auditions could be greatly reduced or elimina5ed. There is way too much repetition. Show it once and then let it go.
I agree with Seeking unemployment. They should use the judges like “Make Me a Super Model” and have them decide who goes up for the vote and then allow America to vote on which of the choosen they would vote off. Then it can be more of a true talent competition and not who has the most tweens that will be willing to sit for 2 hrs straight hitting redial and voting for the popular and not necessarily the talented.
PART 2:
Make the music relevant! Didn’t Slezak point out only 4 performances this season were from songs debuting since 2000? I didn’t know we were crowning American Idol 1985.
Two years ago they did songs currently on the billboard charts. Do that again.
And make the categories less restrictive. I like Dolly Parton, but the theme should have been country songs. I like bn Jovi but the category should have been rock. We’re not tuning in to see the guest coaches side comments.
And broader categories would allow us to see the kind of artists these kids want to be.
Also, we won’t have to hear Simon complain about the great number of songs to choose from when they may not have many available OR 20 year olds may not know a damn thing about what some older artists perform so how would they know what’s good and what isn’t. Or at least give them some music education and more time to choose songs and worry less about the crappy group numbers.
PART 3: along the lines of Part 2, I am not advocating getting rid of the narrower themes or doing classic songs. We’d never have gotten Kelly’s “Stuff Like That There” or Fantasia’s “Summertime”. But they should occur occasionally, not every damn week. And never do the same thing twice in one season, let alone two consecutive weeks – way to kill an interesting Beatles week.
When starting give all equil time show no favorites have a room where the votes are posted and we can see for ourselves who is doing what get rid of ryan and paula have them sing now songs and dont ever do the beatles 2x again get rid of the peanut gallery , be real judge on singing and tallent
The phone lines need to be looked into. It always seems when there is a “shocker” people have complained about busy phone lines/circuits…exactly what happened this year with Michael Johns. When a performer gives the best performance of his career, I believe people do get behind them, even though the show wants to blame the American people for not voting, people are trying to vote and cannot get through due to busy circuits. I personally tried hundreds of times for Michael Johns and got through maybe 20-25 times. The outcome would have been much different had all the votes counted from those people who voted and their votes didn’t go through. You can look at all the polls during that week and know that he was not even close to the bottom. The voting system needs some serious revamping! Good talent is getting voted off way too early because of these technical issues and difficulties.
I agree get rid of the auditons or just show a few highlights. Also I think we should vote for who gets kicked off. And the voting off episode should be 1/2 hour they seem to add so much that nobody cares about just to fill an hour. Didn’t it used to be 1/2 hour? Also get more Contemporary themes. They never get something you hear recently on the radio. Dolly Parton??? Come on
PART 4:
Limit the amount of votes. This is absurd that screaming 14 year olds who love to speed dial decide who’s talented because of cuteness or personality. If that’s the case, bill the show as a popularity contest, not a singing contest.
You can’t convince me that they can’t limit votes to 10 per household, since other shows can do that.
And try this for guest judges (yes, guest judges): bring in a respected music journalist each week. With their credibility on the line, they should provide criticism based on performances, whether or not the theme was truly understood by its interpretation (really, what does Paula know about Andrew Lloyd Weber!!!), how the performance played out, etc. And if it makes the 3 regulars uncomfortable because they have to judge on fields that are not their strengths, so much the better for us viewers and the ones interested in the show for its talent.
PART 5:
Reduce the results show to 30 minutes unless you have several artists performing and admit you’re a variety show. Really, do I care to hear questions about whether the idols wear boxers or briefs? (I tune out this part, so I hope this question never really came up.)
As for auditions and they should limit how many bad auditions. They’re only funny when they come in every once in a while, not 2 out of every 3. Then it’s tiring.
And for Hollywood week, we should be seeing more of what these people go through. Expanding Hollywood and reducing auditions may not be a ratings-grabber, but at least we’ll spend more time with people who are going through and have more connection to the finalists. I think the idea of more weeks in Hollywood with flashbacks to auditions could be interesting.
As for the banter, we don’t watch for it and don’t turn off for it. That’s the equivalent of changing the furniture on the late night talk shows when their ratings are slipping.
i would just like to say to simon, remember, all the contestants still have feelings. there is a noticeable gap between critique and critisism, they are not there for your personal sadism!!!
Fewer mentors. The show should focus more on the idols themselves…like was said before, let us get to know THEM. If they’re looking for filler, which they ALWAYS are, perhaps show some video of them at home. Living and interacting with each other. Maybe showing how they pick their songs each week and how they work on their choices. Fewer theme weeks. I’d rather see them sing in the genres. I DREAD tonight’s Neil Diamond night! Ugh. Could they pull a LESS contemporary artist??!?
As most people have been saying, I think the main issue with Idol now is the voting. If they fixed it by either limiting votes or having the judges pick the final three and then letting us vote on those I think it would help a lot. I enjoy the Ford commercials though, they remind me not to take the show too seriously and that the contestants are actually having fun.
I *love* the audition-flashback idea – we wouldn’t have to deal with the time-wasting idiots planted by a local radio station to get stupid-screen-time. Also, please, for the love of God, cut the results show back down to 30 minutes. And please don’t get rid of the celebrity mentors – with Mariah Carey and Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber, those two were actually helpful to the Idols, not just merely complimentary. Get more useful people like them who will actually give criticism and assist the Idols! (Oh yeah, and raise the age limit to 35 so I can audition just once!)
I’m on the new judges bandwagon. I’m not advocating a clean slate, just a 2/3 clean one. Even though not one of the the three has their pulse on current/young music (Il Divo anyone?) at least Simon’s vitriolic commentary has earned him a moderately respected opinion and adds to the show’s entertainment value. The other two however, haven’t had an interesting thing to say or do for 7 seasons.
So my suggestion is to bring in two new judges. Bring in some young producer to replace Randy – maybe someone in the vein of Pharrell – someone who actually produces the kind of music folks under the age of 55 might want to buy. Then bring in a singer-songwriter female to replace Paula. For some reason, I think Linda Perry might even be an interesting choice. She’s got the edge the show desperately needs and she strikes me as having the ability to give an intelligent opinion.
Not THAT would be an interesting change.
Honestly, I think they need to go back to a top 10 instead of a top 12. The top portion gets dragged out too long. First season, the top 10 was enough. (Plus, really, those other 2 get nothing except screwed.)
I do enjoy the flashbacks, but they seem to drag them out too long. As for the judges, Simon should definitely stay, he is the only one who actually give straight criticism to the contestants. Randy is an okay judge, but he could use a little more harsh constructed criticism to the show. As for Paula, kick her off, she just babbles on and on about this and that, I never understand what she is really saying about the contestants performances. However, I do enjoy watching Simon and Paula go at it during reviews of the contestants. Simon and Ryan should both stay, without their bickering, the show just wouldn’t be the same. That’s my opinion anyways. They also need to try and get some better known song choices for next season. Most of the people watching American Idol are between the ages of 15 – 30’s and some of the music being performed is just a little boring to the younger generation. Step it up a few years and let the younger generation get into watching the show and voting more.
I wish they would get rid of the themes! How about just rock,or country, or blues? Who wants to hear 2 weeks of Beatles? That was their dumbest idea yet! Then Neil Diamond! OMG! Why not just try Weird Al week next! I’ve been a fan forever but my interest is fading fast! Lets get current! Let the contestants choose. I’m sure Neil can’t sing opera and Pavarotti couldn’t sing country twang!